Scoliosis

I have had scoliosis since childhood. It had never occurred to me that my spine could straighten as an adult. But it happened as a result of Rosen Method sessions.

Everyone is different, and Rosen Method doesn’t claim to straighten spines. Even without realigning the spine, however, Rosen Method can bring considerable relief to back pain, since it releases chronically tight muscles. My clients with scoliosis seem to appreciate my ability to understand how their back feels and to locate their tension and pain.

My spine can revert to its habitual curvature between sessions, and I work on re-educating the muscles through various practices. One of these is Alexander Technique. Another is yoga.

Yoga with Elise Browning Miller

Elise Browning Miller is a well-know local yoga teacher who works extensively with scoliosis. She was drawn to yoga originally due to the curvature of her spine, which was 49 degrees — an amount that is often treated by surgery. Through her yoga practice, she reduced the curvature to 32 degrees.

Elise has a website devoted to yoga for scoliosis. Here you’ll find information on her periodic Yoga for Scoliosis workshops. There’s also information on the private sessions she offers, where she will create a program of yoga poses specifically designed for your individual condition. She also recommends someone in New York who does this.

If you are local to the South Bay (south of San Francisco), Elise offers classes at the California Yoga Center, located near Trader Joe’s in the San Antonio Shopping Center (Mountain View). Look for classes labeled “Back Care.”

There’s a Yoga Journalarticle on her website in which she recommends poses for scoliosis, with descriptions and photos.

Yoga with Tina Martin

Elise Miller teaches Iyengar yoga. She’s a very popular teacher, and her classes are packed. If you have scoliosis and prefer a gentler style of yoga, I highly recommend Tina Martin. Her classes are small, and you will receive personal attention that addresses your particular issues. Tina is a physical therapist by training (and a Stanford graduate).

She teaches at Ananda in Palo Alto (El Camino and Oxford). She used to teach Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12:15 to 1:30, but I can’t guarantee her current schedule. You can write to her at tinajoym@pacbell.net. The classes I took were very affordable. A ticket for 10 classes brought the cost to $7 per class. The drop-in cost was $10.

This is a CD on scoliosis by Liz Koch, a local teacher who gives frequent workshops on the psoas muscle. She feels strongly that surgery for scoliosis, such as inserting a metal rod, is not advisable. It was interesting to hear the various bodywork approaches she has used for her own scoliosis, all of which she has found helpful. This presentation is available on CD for $15.00. Also, see her article Psoas Role in Unraveling Scoliosis